Manufacture of chain-links.



No. 684,040. Patented on. a, l90l. H. H. BLISS.

MANUFACTURE OF GHAIN LINKS.

(Application filed Apr. 6, 1892.)

Z-Shaets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

jnvenior No. 684,040. Patented Oct. 8, I91.

n. n. Buss.

MANUFACTURE OF CHAIN LINKS.

Application med Apr 6,1692.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY I-I. BLISS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TOJOSEPH A. JEFFREY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

MANUFACTURE OF CHAIN-LINKS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 684,040, dated October8, 1901.

Application filed April 6, 1892. Serial No. 428,042. (No model.)

To all whom, it may 6070067711.

Be it known that I, HENRY H. BLISS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Chain-Links,of which the following is a specification, reference being had thereinto the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in the process or method ofmanufacturing chain-links, particularly the links for such chains as areemployed for driving machinery or transmitting power from one sprocketwheel to another; and it consists in the process or steps of procedurehereinafter pointed out in detail, whereby such links are manufacturedfrom sheets or plates of metal.

Figure 1 shows more or less conventionally a pair of rolls adapted togive the sheet metal the initial shape desired. Fig. 2 is a.plan view ofpart of a rolled sheet. Fig. 3 is an end view or cross section of asheet and showing planer-cutters adapted to cut the sheet into strips.Fig. 4. is a perspective of several of the strips. Figs. 5 and 6 are asection and a cross-section of the parts for forming thesprocket-aperture in the link. Fig. 7 shows the parts for forming thetongue at the end of the blank which is to be bent into the hook. Fig. 8is a'perspective of the blank prior to bending. Fig. 9 is a longitudinalsection of the same on a larger scale. Figs. 10 and 11 are sectionsshowing the parts for giving the first bend to the blank. Figs. 12 and13 show the parts for forming the end bar and curling the hook. Figs. 14and 15 show, on a larger scale, the parts for forming the end bar. Fig.16 is a perspective of the finished link. p

In carrying out my invention a mass of steel or other suitable metal isfirst heated sufficiently high to permit it to be shaped so as to havethe form of a sheet having the features to be described below. I do notlimit myself to any particular devices for effecting this shaping of theheated metal, though at present I rolling.

In the drawings, A A" represent a pair of rolls so grooved and shaped asto impart to prefer to employ the process of a sheet of steel or othermetal a series of cylinder-like beads, ribs, or enlarged parts, as shownat b, to serve a purpose to be described. This sheet of metal isindicated at B. (See Figs. 1, 2, and 3.) After the operation of rollinghas been completed and the metal has been cooled and is in a propercondition it is cut into proper lengths and placed in a suitablemachine, preferably one of the nature of the planer, and by means of aseries of cutters, as shown at O C, Fig. 3, the'sheet B is cut into anumber of stripsor bars, such as are partially indicated in Fig. 4:. Thecutters O are so adjusted and arranged as to sever the strips on linesimmediately adja-- cent to the enlarged or ribbed parts 19. It will beseen that I thus produce a number of elongated bars of metal, each ofwhich has along one edge an enlarged part which can be utilized as theend bar of alink. The strips thus produced are then taken and subjectedto a series of actions of the following character: I prefer to formfirst the central sprocket-aperture in each linkthatis, form it priortosevering the link-blank from the strip. This can be accomplished bydevices substantially such as are indicated in Figs.

5 and 6, where D D represent the operated parts of gripping or holdingdies so shaped as to receive one of the strips or bars (shown in Fig. 4)and hold it firmly while the cuttingdie, as at E, Fig. 5, is removingthe metal from the central aperture. After this aperture has been formedthe bar or strip may be advanced a certain distance sufficient to havethe next operation performed, or the bar may be held in the firstposition and another set of tools may be brought into action after thecutter .E has been withdrawn. I 0 prefer to advance the strip a distanceequal to the width of a blank for the next operation, which is thecutting of the shoulders at b to form the reduced tongue part b and thesev'- v ering of the blank. The latter step may be taken simultaneouslywiththe forming of the tongue b or subsequently, or the recess on oneside of one blank and the opposite recess on the nextblank may be formedat one operation and a blank may be severed at the loo the edges of theblank has been accomplished the steps are taken by which it is bent orupset, so as to provide a circular cross-bar at one end and an open hookat the other, said cross-bar to be of greater through dimensions thanthe original blank and said hook to have an open throat narrower thanthe end bar, but capable of permitting the lateral movement of onelinkrelatively to another because of the dimensions of the side bar of thelink being such as to permit them to pass through the said threat. Thelinks are detachable when in an unusual position relatively to theWorking line of the chain, but are prevented from uncoupling while insuch line, this possibility of uncoupling at certain times being due tothe relative dimensions of the end bar, the side bars, the hook, and itsthroat or entrance and being particularly due to the fact that the endbar is thicker than the side bars.

IIeretofore it has been attempted to produce from sheet metal a link ofthe described character and to form the round end bar by swaging orupsetting the metal from a cross plate or bar originally rectangular insection and of the same thickness as the sheet; but it has been foundverydifficult to so swage or upset the metal from an elongatedrectangular section to a circular section, owing to,

the large amount of displacement of metal, especially in the thickerlinks, which displacement is not only resisted with great force and canbe accomplished only by very heavy and powerful machinery, but alsoresults in so attacking the fibers of the metal as to seriously impairthe efficiency of the end bar as a pintle or journal.

I obviate the difficulties which have been experienced as abovedescribed by first rolling the sheet metal in such way as to provide theabove-described ribs or beads. These may be initially made angular insection or with surfaces giving in section arcs of the same circle, orthey may be made more nearly elliptical in section, as is shown in Fig.9. hen made as last described, I provide sufficient stock to produce aperfectly-round bar, and yet do it in such way as to avoid the excessiveswaging which is required when this part of the blank is rectangular insection and of the same thickness as the original sheet, and, moreover,I am enabled to provide smooth wearing or journal surfaces at b 11 wherethe cutters O and E necessarily produce rectangular surfaces.

By examining Figs. 14: and 15 it will be seen that the cavities in thegripping-dies and in the swaging-die I form a chamber when the dies arein contact, which is circularin section and of such dimensions that thestock or metal constituting the bar I) will snugly till it after thecompression has been exerted. It will also be seen that a comparativelyslight swaging action is required to accomplish this, owing to the factthat the metal already approximates the desired circular form. Thisswaging-die I and the curling-die H may be arranged to operatesimultaneously or successively, as preferred. The action of thecurling-die need not be described in detail, as it will be readilyunderstood by those skilled in the art of working sheet metal. It hasacavity at h, whose face is so shaped that when the die is forced towardthe blank the curved lip b is impinged upon by the wall of the cavity h,and said wall bends or curls the part b of the blank around to form ahook, as at U. The finished link'is shown in Fig. 16.

I am aware of the fact that it has been proposed to roll separate barsor strips-that is, bars each of a width equal to the length of thedesired link-blank, and each to be rolled with a round rib at one edgeto provide the end bars of the links and with a depressed part at theopposite edge, from which the knuckles or hooks are to be subsequentlyproduced -but a number of disadvantages are incident to this process ofmanufacture. In the first place, it is much more expensive, because ofthe large increase in the handling of the metal which is necessary.Again, in practice it is found that rolls cannot be so arranged as toproduce the finished surface upon the outer side of the end bar which itis desired to have, the rolls in practice always leaving a fin or web.Again, it is found that the metal bars or strips are of such variouswidths, due to the inequalties in compression and expansion during therolling process, that it is not practicable to insure an absoluteuniformity in the lengths of the blanks cut therefrom or in the lengthsof the links produced from the blanks, and such uniformity is anessential requisite in order that the chains may be throughout ofexactly the same pitch. I obviate these various difficulties. By twohandlings of the metalIprovide longitudinal bars or strips of such atotal length that the output greatly exceeds that which results from theother plan just referred to, as the two handlings produce a large numberof bars or strips at one time, while in the other case these twohandlings are required for each bar separately; but a much greaterimportance is incident to the fact that the links can be produced withan exactitude of dimensions that is not attainable in the other process.By severing the longitudinal bars from the sheet by cutters accuratelyadjusted the bars are necessarily of exactly the same width throughout,the blanks are all of exactly the same length, and therefore the pitchof the links is uniform.

I am also aware of the fact that it has been proposed to roll a strip ofmetal having swelled or rounded thick beads, one along each edge, andhaving midway between the edge heads a depression, such strip beingadapted to be cut into two strips severed longitudinally along thelongitudinal line of the depressed part of the initial strip, and I donot claim such an article or the method of manufacture of linkstherefrom as coming within my invention; but my manner of manufacturedif ICC) fers materially from that last referred to. When a strip withtwo beads along the edges is rolled, it is capable of providing only twoblanks when considered transversely. One of the objects of my inventionis to cheapen the process of manufacture of sheet-metal links by formingthe initial plate in such way that a very large number of small linkscan be cut therefrom, the number, in fact, being indefinite as concernsthe transverse dimensions of the initial sheet and governed only by thecapacity of the rolls. In my case the sections or substrips of theinitial plate are all counterparts of each other, not only in shape, butin their positions relative to the lines of the sheet-that is to say,the said sections or substrips are not inverted as to each other atanypoint. When so inverted transversely, only two links or link-blankscan be obtained by cutting transversely. It is impracticable to rollsheets for this purpose with more than two link lengths on transverselines if each strip is to have two beads along its outer edges and adepression midway between them. Again, as is well known to thoseacquainted with rolling such sheets as these, it is impossible toproduce a true rectilinear finished edge or surface at the outer side ofthe rounded beads, as slight fins or Webs will be produced, to removewhich necessitates a subsequent operation of cutting or emery-grinding;but when the initial plate is produced in the manner I have provided theplaner-cutters employed at a subsequent stage can be adjusted with suchaccuracy that at one traverse of the rolled plate under these cuttersthe pitch length of the ultimate link can be precisely obtained, thecutters being so adjusted as to the outer lines of the thickened ribs asto leave them in condition for articulation at the same time that thesevering of the plate into the blank-strips is accomplished.

What I claim isr 1. The herein-described improvement in the art ofmaking chain, it consisting in subjecting a mass of metal to heat, then,while in a heated condition, forming a relatively thin plate of saidmetal, said plate having parts extending longitudinally thereof and eachvarying in cross-section, all being counterparts of each other inposition and in shape, then cooling the said-sheet, then cutting saidsheetlongitudinally along the planes of division between the thickerparts and the thinner and forming bars or strips, each bar being thickerat one edge than at the other, then cutting said strips transversely toform linkblanks, curling each blank at one end to form a knuckle or hookand cutting a central aperture in said blank, substantially as setforth.

2. The herein-described metal sheet for the manufacture oflink-blank's,it having a transverse series of severallongitudinally-extending parts, each varying in thickness'in transversesection and all counterparts of each other in position relatively to thesheet and in shape, it being adapted to have bars or strips cuttherefrom, each thicker at one edge than at the other, substantially asset forth.

3. The herein-described metal sheet for the manufacture of link-blanks,it havinga transverse series of several longitudinally-extend ingpart-s, all counterparts of each other in position in relation to thesheet and each part having along one edge a cylinder-like bead orenlargement, said sheet being adapted to have the said parts severedfrom each other by'cutting along the edges of the said beads,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HENRY I-I. BLISS;

\Vitnesses:

MARoUs B. MAY, R. G. DU 1301s.

